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This rules addendum is currently not approved for implementation. |
The following is an addendum that, if approved, would be an additional requirement of the Submission Rules.
These rules govern the quantity and quality of firepower available to the numerous mecha, small craft, starships, vehicles, and so forth within the Star Army setting.
These rules do not address the following topics, due to the fact that we believe it is the job of the submission reviewers to determine whether or not a submission is overpowered, not the job of yet more rules whose presence would only make it even more difficult for content creators to contribute to the setting.
Usually, for infantrymen and power armor, this is self-explanatory… or at least easily ruled on. No one expects an infantryman or a power armor to dual-wield bazookas while carrying four spares on their back. For mecha and starships, however, it becomes more nebulous. The rule we offer is: a maximum of 8 same-tier weapons as the unit carrying them.
For weapons such as missiles/rockets/torpedos/etc., there's actually two rules we offer:
Keep in mind that it doesn't matter whether you call the “missile” a torpedo, missile, rocket, rocket-propelled grenade, or something else entirely. What ultimately matters is its tier - nothing more, nothing less.
Here are a few final things to keep in mind:
The following tables are included for usage as a quick reference when creating and/or reviewing new or pre-existing setting elements.
Note: “Host platform” refers to the mecha/small craft/starship/vehicle/etc. a weapon system is mounted on.
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Tier Difference | Capacity Utilized |
---|---|
+3 | 8 |
+2 | 4 |
+1 | 2 |
0 | 1 |
-1 | 1/2 |
-2 | 1/4 |
-3 | 1/8 |
-4 | 1/16 |
-5 | 1/32 |
-6 | 1/64 |
-7 | 1/128 |
-8 | 1/256 |
-9 | 1/512 |
-10 | 1/1,024 |
-11 | 1/2,048 |
-12 | 1/4,096 |
-13 | 1/8,192 |
-14 | 1/16,384 |
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Tier Difference | Missiles Available |
---|---|
+3 | 1 |
+2 | 2 |
+1 | 4 |
0 | 8 |
-1 | 16 |
-2 | 32 |
-3 | 64 |
-4 | 128 |
-5 | 256 |
-6 | 512 |
-7 | 1,024 |
-8 | 2,048 |
-9 | 4,096 |
-10 | 8,192 |
-11 | 16,384 |
-12 | 32,768 |
-13 | 65,536 |
-14 | 131,072 |
</WRAP> </WRAP>
The following sections are meant to serve as examples of how the system is meant to be used.
Let's say that I'm an evil Mishhuvurthyar villain recently freed from imprisonment on Luna Bianca whose decided to create an 80-meter-tall Giant Robot Dinosaur so that I can wreak chaos, havoc, destruction, and despair upon the unsuspecting residents of Kyoto City.
Given that 80-meter-tall units fit under the “Light Starship” (Tier 10) category according to this chart, I can have:
So, if I want to have two Laser Eyes of Destruction™, I'd convert those 8 Tier 10 (Light Anti-Starship) weapons into…
…and then convert those four weapons into:
So, in the case of my giant robot dinosaur with laser eyes, it can kill with a glare.
But wait, I wanted it to breathe fire too! And I want my fire breath to cause more damage than my laser eyes. Back to the drawing board: I divide 1 of those Tier 12 (Heavy Anti-Starship) weapons back into 2 Tier 11 (Medium Anti-Starship) weapons. Those two will actually be my laser eyes. The bigger one is my fire breath. So, now, my loadout looks like:
And there we go. My Godzilla impersonator is armed and ready to smash, stomp, burn, rip, and tear Kyoto City into rubble!
Let's say that I'm the general responsible for defending Kyoto City against the 80-meter-tall Giant Robot Dinosaur mentioned above and that I'm trying to figure out what kinds of missiles should be loaded onto the jets.
I know from the engineers that each fighter jets measure 14 meters by 9 meters by 2 meters, which (according to some chart they keep referring to) makes them a ”Tier 7 Light Mecha.“ They've also informed me each fighter jet can be equipped with…
…and that 4 of those 8 weapons are already “taken up” by the two autocannons mounted on each side of the forward fuselage, meaning that each fighter jet has…
…already equipped, and…
…available for missiles. Simple observation tells me that each fighter jet has two under-wing hardpoints per wing for a total of four, which means that each hardpoint can carry a single “weapon system's” worth of missiles (or, if you ask the engineers, 1/8 of the fighter's total weapon capacity or 8 same-tier missiles). It also means that each of the four hardpoints could potentially carry one of the following payload options:
Now, in an ideal universe without any of those pesky politicians/engineers/eggheads/budget cuts/weapon reduction treaties, this means that I could load each fighter jet with 4 Tier 10 (Light Anti-Starship) missiles and bury that robotic lizard freak in a nuclear avalanche of pure radioactive awesomeness.
Problem is, this isn't an ideal universe; because the civilians spent too much time chewing their thumbs and debating over what to do, I unfortunately, have no choice but to send out the fighter jets with their current anti-fighter loadout of…
…(which, for you tech-obsessed eggheads out there, means there is sixteen Tier 6 missiles equipped per hardpoint) and pray to the Goddess that it's enough.
Let's say I'm the long-dead Yamataian who 10,000 years ago designed the gigantic 95-meter-tall mecha that's conveniently about to appear out of nowhere and defeat the Giant Robot Dinosaur on the outskirts of Kyoto City.
At 95 meters tall, the aforementioned Giant Mecha fits squarely in the “Light Starship” (Tier 10) category according to this millenia-old chart, which means I have enough room for:
To start, I decided to take 2 of those 8 Tier 10 (Light Anti-Starship) weapons and divide them into…
…for the extendable Zesuaium sword built into the Giant Mecha's right forearm. Next, I took 2 of the remaining 6 Tier 10 (Light Anti-Starship) weapons and converted them into…
…then divided those four weapons into…
…and divided those eight weapons into…
…for the retractable point-defense turrets located at various points on the Giant Mecha's body, arms, and legs. After that, the rest is pretty simple: Of the remaining 4 Tier 10 (Light Anti-Starship) weapons leftover…
…is utilized for the Aether Beam Cannon located in each of the Giant Mecha's arms (which adds up to a total of 2 Tier 10 (Light Anti-Starship) weapons), while the single-tube missile launchers located on each shoulder together equal…
…which thereby brings the Giant Mecha right up to the maximum limit of 8 Tier 10 (Light Anti-Starship) weapons. Granted, each missile launcher can only fire a single missile every 10 seconds - but when up against opponents the size of buildings (or larger!), some pretty big missiles are required; besides, it looks so much cooler.
With the weapons taken care of, all that remained was to add a shield to the Giant Mecha's left forearm. Seeing as how I wasn't able to fit any more weaponry onto the Giant Mecha, I chose to leave the shield devoid of weaponry; a quick glance here tells me that since the Giant Mecha is considered to be a Tier 10 (Light Starship), the aforementioned shield should be classified as a Tier 11 (Medium Starship) - and with its final loadout of…
…plus a…
…the Giant Mecha is ready to go save the day!
The following table was copied directly from the DRv3 Quick Reference article (apart from a few minor formatting changes) and is also included for reference purposes.
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frostjaeger created this article on 2017/04/22 12:28.